To Sir With Love

[marty]

I was thinking along the same lines as you Christopher until Alan F pointed out Dagmar Road...I think the shot on the book cover is Victoria Barracks.

In these screen grabs you can see the houses in Helena Street in the background of the first one:
ts001.jpg

Looking from the other direction you can see the entrance to the school yard:
ts002.jpg

If you compare the book cover to the second screen grab Sidney Poitier is standing just in front of the steps adjacent to where the arched window is.

Looking at the first screengrab you can see the steps and arched window, but looking from the opposite side.

Whatever the building is/was in the background judging by the aerial shots of the barracks has now gone and has been incorporated into the site of the new barracks.

[RickHolland]

I agree that the book cover is the Victoria Barracks yard, taken from a different angle, and I would suggest that the "RVES" is the end of "WHARVES."

There's much that's worth a closer look, and I'd be interested in what everyone here thinks...

Note that in the book cover, and the similar frame, there is a stick which appears to be propping up the brick wall:

screen-capture-14.png

vlcsnap-125509.jpg

Also, in the closer shots looking out of the Victoria Barracks yard, there is a vehicle visible on the other 'side' of the street, each of which conveniently hides the line where the WHARVES building meets the ground.

vlcsnap-134683.jpg

vlcsnap-107851.jpg

I believe that the (WHA)RVES building may be a facade, and I think it's possible that the schoolyard wall is also a piece of set, propped up in long shots for H&S reasons. A closer look at the brickwork of that wall looks like it may be paint instead of mortar.

So the layout of the new barracks may in fact be similar to the now-demolished ones, with a temporary recreation of buildings on the other side of Johnson St.

What do you think?

Rick

PS on an unrelated note, the structure in the Getty photo has been saved from demolition, and appears in recent YouTube vids.

[marty]

As a point of interest it appears that Victoria Barracks can be seen in the Professionals episode 'Old Dog New Tricks'.

If you have a looks at these screen grabs which are in Keppel Street, in the first just to the right of the officer's head there is an arched doorway:
keppel1.jpg

If you look at the previous grab of the school,the doorway I have indicated with the red arrow looks identical. Although its hard to make out in the shot I think the doorway to the right of the officer is where I have indicated with the yellow arrow:
pic3.jpg

here is another shot from the professionals episode:
keppel2.jpg

[christoph404]

[QUOTE=RickHolland;2031799]I agree that the book cover is the Victoria Barracks yard, taken from a different angle, and I would suggest that the "RVES" is the end of "WHARVES." Quote.


Or if the lettering is an original feature of the Barack building it could be "reserves"......?

[marty]

Just had a closer look at the lettering, never really noticed it in the film until it was pointed out on the book cover.

A screen grab here shows ARVES:
snap1.jpg

[tavistock]

Keppel St is a long way from the river so to have a Wharf building in that position would be odd and it is also plural (note the S is not level with the ARVE). We need a Kellys directory!

[RickHolland]

Here's an old aerial photo of Windsor I found online. I've circled the 'schoolyard' area near Dagmar Road, and this seems to verify that the entry wall (supported by the stick in the paperback shot) was added for the film.

oldwindsor.jpg